Newcastle 'taxi protest' RECAP: Traffic disruption easing after city centre brought to a standstill

Council comment on protest

Cllr Arlene Ainsley, Cabinet member for Transport and Air Quality said

“We have been working closely with representatives from the newly formed Newcastle Hackney Drivers Association to identify new rank spaces across the city, along with improved signage.

“It is unfortunate that rather than continuing to engage with us through this new representative group they have instead resorted to an unofficial protest causing disruption to the city centre impacting on the journey of hundreds of road users.

“I recognise the Hackney carriage drivers are concerned by the number of licenses being granted to private hire operators but this has been seen in cities across the country because by law, local authorities are not able to impose a cap on the number of licences we issue.

“The council regards taxis to be an essential part of our public transport offer in the city.

“We are keen to work with the taxi trade to develop locations that work in the best interests of all road users and the city’s plans to improve air quality. We would encourage the association to continue to engage with us and take productive steps to improve the situation.”

Taxi driver involved in altercation

We reported earlier about police officers asking for witnesses to an incident outside Haymarket.

The police have now confirmed there was an altercation between a motorist and a taxi driver.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said:

“At around 2.18pm today, we received a report of a taxi causing an obstruction to motorists in Percy Street, Newcastle.

“During this incident, a male motorist and the taxi driver became involved in an altercation.

“The motorist left the scene shortly after and both men were uninjured.

“Officers attended the scene and moved the vehicles on. Traffic has now returned to normal.”

Why the taxi drivers are protesting

Here is a statement purportedly from the Newcastle Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, setting out the reasoning behind the protest:

It says:

The Newcastle Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, the main body representing the city’s Hackney Carriage trade, have decided to exercise the right of all Hackney Carriage drivers by having a Go to Work Day to highlight the difficulties of having insufficient rank spaces within the city centre.

The Hackney Carriage trade have suffered serious setbacks as a direct result of Newcastle City Council removing ranks without prior consultation or involvement from drivers.

The recent closure of the taxi rank at The Gate, in particular, has created substantial difficulties for hackney carriage vehicles to move around the city and this is further exacerbated by limited or restricted access through bus lanes and gates.

This, together with the historic closure of ranks, has caused an accumulation of problems and the Hackney Carriage industry feels that essential driving routes, whilst transporting members of the public, have become complicated and with increased fares, and therefore not in the interests of public safety or convenience.

Hackney Carriage drivers are keen to address the problems of insufficient rank spaces provided by Newcastle City Council. The difficulties of finding spaces which are accessible to members of the public, particularly at weekends, has a direct effect on traffic congestion and traffic flow. This is also impacted by the numbers of private hire vehicles which illegally park up and ply for hire preventing the Hackney Carriage trade from legally working.

The numbers of private hire licences issued by the Licensing Department have increased threefold in as many years due to reductions in the criteria for issuing private hire licences. The city centre, at weekends, is flooded with private hire drivers accepting non pre-booked work and whilst there may be difficulties managing and policing this, the Hackney Carriage industry firmly believe it is the responsibility of the local authority to prevent this from occurring.

The resultant issues with traffic congestion, public safety, air quality and pollution, which are known agendas for Newcastle City Council, should be tied in with their licensing policies and practices, otherwise their members are being counter-productive.

Whilst the Hackney Carriage industry recognises and welcomes Newcastle City Council’s plan to further pedestrianise the city centre and increase access to shopping, leisure and tourism, drivers want members of the public to be aware of and able to use a Black Cab as an official emblem of the city and an integral part of the city centre’s transport system.

Nexus not told about protest

Nexus, whose staff manage Eldon Square and Haymarket bus stations in the centre of Newcastle confirmed they were unaware of any protest.

A Nexus spokesman said:

“We were given no notice that this protest was going to occur.

“Passengers should keep an eye on www.nexus.org.uk for updates about bus services.”

Passengers waiting for buses

It’s looking a lot clearer outside Eldon Square (on the Percy Street side), but queues of passengers are still waiting inside the bus station:

Protest took bus company by surprise

A Stagecoach spokesman said that they weren’t aware of the taxi drivers’ protest in advance.

He said:

“It was a surprise protest and we had no prior notice.”

Services to resume shortly

Here’s the latest from Go North East on services from Haymarket and Eldon Square:

Photos of the protest

Here’s the area where taxi drivers were stationary, causing the disruption this afternoon:

Bus services returning to normal

Bus services are almost back to normal, Sean says:

Taxis have dispersed

Bus station staff at Eldon Square say services should be back to normal very shortly.

The taxis have dispersed and at the moment don’t appear to have popped up anywhere else.

Traffic easing as police direct traffic

Percy Street now appears to be mostly clear, although there remains some residual traffic near Haymarket.

Police officers have been directing traffic at the entrance to the bus station.

Buses from Haymarket suspended

A member of staff at Eldon Square station has told ChronicleLive all buses from the station are suspended.

They said:

“Could be ten minutes, could be two hours”.

Because some drivers were near the end of their shifts and and waited in traffic for an hour, they legally can’t continue to drive.

'Hundreds' of taxis involved

Staff at the bus station estimate that hundreds of taxi drivers have been involved in the coordinated ‘unofficial’ protest:

How is the disruption being caused?

The drivers who would usually turn round at the taxi rank between Haymarket and Eldon Square have stopped and aren’t moving.

This is blocking entry for busses, causing long tailbacks approaching Haymarket:

45 minute delays for buses

Go North East say their buses in the city centre are facing delays of approximately 45 minutes:

Footage of traffic at a standstill

Here’s a clip showing the disruption around Haymarket caused by the ‘unofficial’ taxi protest:

Very heavy traffic

It’s still very heavily congested, with taxis still blocking areas near Haymarket:

Claims that taxi rank to be removed

Taxi drivers are claiming a taxi rank near Haymarket is to be closed.

We have contacted Newcastle City Council for more information and hope to have more details soon.

Protest over taxi rank spaces

Some taxi drivers are saying the protest, which has brought much of the city centre to a standstill, is due to a lack of spaces in taxi ranks in Newcastle, we are told.

Police involved in trying to get traffic moving

Police are at the scene of the protest trying to restore normality to the city’s traffic:

Reports of an assault

There has been reports of an assault in connection with the taxi drivers’ protest.

Police officers are in the Haymarket area asking for witnesses to the suspected assault.

We have contacted Northumbria Police for more information.

Blackett Street gridlocked

Here’s the current view looking at Blackett Street from Eldon Square:

Traffic on Percy Street

There’s the view of the gridlocked traffic on Percy Street towards Haymarket bus station:

Bus companies 'liaising with police'

The bus companies are speaking to the police about the disruption and at least six police officers have been seen running towards Haymarket bus station:

'Taxi protest' in Newcastle city centre

Traffic appears to have been brough to a standstill in Newcastle city centre, reportedly due to a taxi driver protest: